Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Waupaca Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wautoma, Wisconsin 54982
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter impacted terrain during cruise flight. The pilot reported that the helicopter was established in cruise flight about 500 feet above ground level (agl). He was accompanied by a dog, which was restrained by a harness in the right seat. The pilot stated that a farmer waved as he flew by, and he banked the helicopter 30-degrees to the left and the right in response. He noted that this maneuver upset the dog. He subsequently transferred the cyclic from his right hand to his left hand, and restrained the collective by using the side of this leg, in order to free his right hand to reassure the dog. The pilot reported that during this time the helicopter entered a 135-degree right bank, and he seemed to become "weightless." He increased collective to load the main rotor and rolled left, recovering about 250 feet agl. He noted that the main rotor speed was "very low" and the helicopter was descending rapidly. About 50 feet agl he attempted to pitch up, but the aircraft did not respond. He "pulled all energy out of the rotor" and the helicopter impacted in a slight nose down attitude. The skids collapsed, the lower portion of the fuselage was damaged, and the main rotor blades struck the tail boom during the accident. The pilot stated that there were no failures or malfunctions associated with the aircraft prior to the accident. He noted that the distraction of having a dog in the helicopter and his transferring cyclic control to his left hand were contributing factors to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter resulting from a distraction in the cockpit. A contributing factor was the distraction due to the dog in the cockpit.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/17/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1015 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wautoma |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54982 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 441329N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0893151W |
| Event Location Airport | Waupaca Muni |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PCZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1015 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PCZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22577 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 17 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N73223 |
| NTSB Number | CHI08CA019 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 47G-2A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2722 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2850 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 330 |
| Airframe Hours | 13425 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 223 Leasing LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Waupun |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53963 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Reabe Spraying Service |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 8WI2 |
| Departure City | Plainfield |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PCZ |
| Destination City | Waupaca |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 2 2007 5:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |